Pondexter sends Washington past MSU

Mar 20, 2009 - 12:52 AM
PORTLAND, Oregon (AP) -- Team captain Jon Brockman had a broken
nose and a seat on the bench because of fouls. Isaiah Thomas and
Justin Dentmon weren't fulfilling their roles as Washington's
top two scorers in the biggest game of the season.

As usual, everyone forgot about Quincy Pondexter.

Pondexter scored a season-high 23 points and the fourth-seeded
Huskies took advantage of early foul trouble to Mississippi
State's menacing Jarvis Varnado to race past the 13th-seeded
Bulldogs, 71-58, in the first round of the NCAA tournament on
Thursday.

"It was very noticeable," the springy, 6-foot-6 Pondexter said
with a smile, of Varnado being out during a game-turning run in
the first half. "I didn't have to alter my shots."

The rugged Brockman did what Varnado couldn't - overcome fouls -
to finish with 14 rebounds and 10 points while playing with what
he believes is a broken nose.

In the end, the supposedly vulnerable Huskies (26-8) looked far
better than the last time they were in this city, losing to
Portland of the West Coast Conference to begin the season. That
and a six-game winning streak for Mississippi State, the
Southeastern Conference tournament champions, had many expecting
an early out for Washington.

"We had a lot of doubters, a lot of people who said this was
going to be an upset," Thomas said.

Barry Stewart and Phil Turner had 11 points each for Mississippi
State (23-13), which had reached the NCAAs for the sixth time in
eight years only because of its surprising romp through the SEC
tournament.

"They just came out and hit us in the mouth early. And we didn't
respond," said Bulldogs point guard Dee Bost, who had five
points on 1-for-10 shooting.

The Bulldogs missed 17 of their first 23 shots and made just 34
percent overall. Ravern Johnson, who was averaging 12.2 points
per game coming in, missed nine of his first 11 shots.

Varnado, the national leader in blocked shots and MSU's leading
scorer, finished with five blocks, to go along with seven
points, three rebounds - and four fouls - in 23 minutes. He was
distraught afterward, his head down and a towel over it.

The Huskies, who won the Pac-10 regular-season title for their
first outright league title since 1953, scored the first six
points of the second half - four on a dunk and a layup by
Pondexter. He was set up by smooth, no-look passes from freshman
point guard Isaiah Thomas. That put Washington up 44-27, and the
Huskies cruised from there into Saturday's second round against
Purdue.

The fifth-seeded Boilermakers (26-9), who beat Northern Iowa,
61-56, in a bruising game earlier Thursday, will be Washington's
second straight conference-tournament champion opponent.

The first got punished by Pondexter.

"Coach said he was the wild card," Johnson said. "We just
couldn't stop him."

The once-forgotten Pondexter thrived with team leader Brockman
on the bench, Dentmon scoreless over the first 28 minutes and
leading scorer Thomas content to feed Pondexter rather than
force shots. Thomas and Dentmon finished with just 13 points,
their second-lowest combined total this season.

"I was just really proud of our guys," Brockman said. "We got in
early foul trouble and that didn't factor in at all. It didn't
faze us.

"That's the adversity you've got to be able to handle when you
are playing in a tournament like this."

Bulldogs coach Rick Stansbury had praised Varnado the day before
for improving his ability to stay out of foul trouble this
season. Then he played only six minutes of the first half. He
got his second foul midway through the period for reaching over
Brockman's back in an attempt for a rebound.

This season, the 6-foot-9 junior led the nation with 165 blocks
to break the SEC record he had shared with Shaquille O'Neal. He
led the country with 157 last year. But Thursday, he merely led
Mississippi State starters in time on the bench.

"It was their plan to try to get me in foul trouble," he said.

Brockman, playing with what he called a bent and probably broken
nose he sustained last week during the Pac-10 tournament,
followed Varnado to the sidelines five minutes later with his
second foul, when Washington led 16-14. That's when Pondexter
took over.

Playing like Brockman without Varnado around to stop him,
Pondexter scored on a dunk, a putback and two turnaround jumpers
during a 15-6 run.

That put the Huskies ahead 31-20 late in the half as the large
purple pack in the stands roared. The Bulldogs never got closer.

"I had a sweet seat on the bench to watch our team go to work,"
Brockman said.

The Bulldogs' furry mascot had a close-up view, too, spending
much of the second half seated dejectedly along the baseline,
motionless with his legs crisscrossed.